Ever since the Tampa Bay Buccaneers took out the defending Championship Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LV, opposing teams have used the Bucs template on how to beat the Chiefs and if you include that game, K.C. was having their arse handed to hem on a plate going 3-and-5 (from February through October). Since then, our Chiefs have been on a tear going 8-and-0 and securing the number one seed in the AFC, and in the meantime, bringing in their 6th AFC West Championship in a row. That’s also a record, as no other team in the AFC West has ever won 6 AFC West Championships in a row. So, we’re witnessing history before our very eyes.
The game against the Steelers was that complete game we’ve been waiting for… and it happened without their star TE, Travis Kelce, on the field. Their 8th straight 1st Quarter shutout was amazing and it was also the first time it’s happened in the NFL since 1999.
What Template?
The Bucs used a two deep Safety look with aggressive Linebackers and a four man front who could get after Patrick Mahomes to beat the Chiefs in February. Other teams have benefitted from that approach because it not only keeps the Chiefs speedy WRs from beating them deep, but it forced PMII off his mark. I can hear you now saying, “Hey, wait, isn’t Mahomes at his best when he’s off his mark and allowed to extend plays?!” Yes, and no. Early in this season, K.C. was employing five new starters along the OL, but since mid-season, they’ve “Gelled”… as David Bell likes to say… and the result has been so improved that now the Chiefs have one of the best units up front in the entire NFL (and yes Merlin, that includes having Andrew Wylie at right tackle).
Early in the season, you would often hear Patrick Mahomes saying, “We need to learn to take what they’re giving.” I’d say, he’s learned his lesson.
That was in September of this year, and while the offense still had a ways to go until they could dominate a game like they did against the Steelers, his awareness of what needed to be done came early on in this season. It just took awhile to get the whole course of the ship corrected.
More Lessons Learned
With Travis Kelce unavailable against the Steelers and Tyreek Hill not coming off the Covid list until 48 hours before game time, many were wondering what approach Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes would take vs Pittsburgh. As it turned out, Tyreek Hill only had two (2) targets (and two catches) so he was used more as a deceptive element than a realistic threat. What does that mean? It means… we may have finally found out exactly who will be WR #2 because Byron Pringle had 6 catches for 75 yards and two (2) touchdowns. So, if you’re a defensive coordinator preparing for the Chiefs offense, you must now account for Pringle. Especially since we found out that in this game, he has moves like Jagger… er, Kelce.
This game against the Steelers could be the seminal moment of the season:
A huge reason the Chiefs offense is functioning at a high level now has to do with familiarity. Mahomes now knows and trusts his blockers up front. Kind of a “reverse” case in point is the sack Joe Thuney gave up on Sunday: Mahomes usually escapes between the DE, who Orlando Brown has often routed up field, and the DT who is usually locked up by Thuney. On that play, Mahomes reads the blocking incorrectly and heads upfield beyond Thuney and the DT grabs him. Those kinds of plays would happen with more frequency early in the season, but now it’s an anomaly.
As Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes and the offense were putting together a new approach and new attack, the defense was making the needed changes too.
Defensive Course Correction
The Chiefs defense faced some health issues earlier in the year and that should not be understated. When Brett Veach traded for DE Melvin Ingram it meant Chris Jones could move back inside for more snaps and when he did play DE, the Chiefs lost a lot of their ability to bat down passes. Fans of the defense often overlook batted down passes but every time it happens it’s often equal to a sack because it jazzes up the rest of the defense. Here’s Chris Jones the after the Chiefs beat the Cowboys:
“We had a lot of guys hurt. We were rebuilding the chemistry back on this defense and getting guys healthy. Being able to play together, I think this was the first time, within four weeks, that we had all of our guys healthy and able to mesh and play together. That is a huge part of our defense.”
When Willie Gay Jr., and then Anthony Hitchens, each took turns sitting out of games, rookie Nick Bolton was thrust into the limelight and boy has he shined his light, not only leading the team in tackles — by a ton — but with double-digit — 11 — tackles for a loss (TFLs) when L’Jarius Sneed is the next closest Chiefs defender in that category with 7.
The coverage on the back end has gotten really good and will be tested this week vs the Bengals in Cincinnati. With a healthy Frank Clark, Melvin Ingram, and Chris Jones the Chiefs pass rush may rival any pass rush in the league. Their ability to put pressure on a QB makes everyone’s job easier in the secondary.
Many Reasons for Defensive Improvement
There are a number of reasons that the Chiefs defense has made a turnaround this year.
- Remember the problems with Daniel Sorensen early in the year? –> No more.
- Juan Thornhill has been a major catalyst for the defensive turnaround.
- Tyrann Mathieu – In a sum-of-their-parts type of defensive turnaround, the Chiefs have utilized one player to spur their resurgence.
- Andy Reid cites health and “young guys maturing” as keys to defensive turnaround.
When you think: defense, you begin to break it down into units. The Front Four. The Linebackers, The Cornerbacks. The Safeties. When you consider the Chiefs defensive turnaround, it’s happened for every unit. I can recall many post games defenders early in the season commenting that they needed to “communicate” better and were learning how to do that. The cynic in me thought, those were coach speak and player speak phrases coming out of their mouths. Now, it looks like they were right on the money.
The Chiefs may have corrected the course that their season was going, but we’ll have to wait and see if they will continue down their corrected course path in the coming weeks. We’ll know for sure when they’re holding the Lombardi LVI trophy up.
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Laddie Morse — ArrowheadOne
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